Stosur storms to Charleston title
The only difference between Samantha Stosur’s victory in the final of the Family Circle Cup and Rafael Nadal claiming his sixth straight title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is that we’ve come to expect that sort of dominance from the Spaniard on clay.
Stosur’s 6-0, 6-3 victory over Vera Zvonareva in the Charleston final in just 52 minutes was every bit as emphatic as the one the King of Clay dished out against Fernando Verdasco in Monaco earlier in the day.
The Charleston fourth seed stormed out of the blocks in the first set, intimidating her Russian opponent into submission with a barrage of scorching winners, a total of 36 for the match in fact.
If Stosur wasn’t hammering the ball off her powerful forehand, putting away an overhead volley or placing backhands well out of reach of the seventh seed, there was still that serve to deal with.
It’s fair to say the Australian possesses one of the most potent serves on the women’s tour and at Charleston it created headaches all the way to the final. If it wasn’t a first-serve rocket, then it was that kick serve rearing up off the green clay and daring the receiver to return it into the court.
Mostly, Zvonareva – like Peng Shuai in the quarter-finals and Daniela Hantuchova in the semis before her – struggled to do so with any great effect against what is arguably the 26-year-old’s most effective weapon.
In the final, the Queenslander won an impressive 86% of points on first serve and 69% of points from her second serve in an imperious performance.
Unable to find any answers, Zvonareva, who reached the final after an ankle injury forced top seed Caroline Wozniacki to retire from their semi-final match (admittedly while the Russian was in the lead) won just five points in the first set against Stosur.
At 0-3 down in the second, the 25-year-old’s frustrations finally boiled over and it was her racquet that felt the brunt of them. Once she got that out of her system, and replaced her mangled Prince with another, Zvonareva finally got on the scoreboard and even broke Stosur’s serve to trail her opponent 4-3 in the second set.
However Stosur, who had lost in the first five WTA Tour finals she’d played before finally making the breakthrough at Osaka last year, was not to be denied.
If there was any niggling doubt about the world No. 11 (although she’s back in the top 10 after winning the title here) it was how she would handle the pressure as Zvonareva started to get the scoreboard ticking over. A glance at the words inked on the 2009 French Open semi-finalist’s sweat band, “composure” and “attitude”, provided a fair indication of her focus for the match and behind those trademark shades, Stosur maintained both to take the next two games and her first WTA Premier title.
"To be able to play that well in a final is a great feeling,” Stosur said after the win. “You always hope you'll do that, but to actually go and perform that way is very, very pleasing.”
To do so on clay, the surface on which she has achieved her best result at a Grand Slam, must have been especially gratifying for the Australian as she prepares to return to Roland Garros in 2010.
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